Pyroclasm
by Ziphon
Summary: Response to The Modern Sorcerers Fire Solves Everything challenge. You know the saying that there are those people who just want to watch the world burn? Well who better to do that than a Fire Elemental?
1. Chapter 1

**AN:/ Well this is my first fic and I decided that I'd do a challenge so I would have a place to start and the challenge I chose was The Modern Sorcerer's Fire Solves Everything challenge**

 **Harry Potter's temper has always been rather dangerous, but it's not until things start bursting into flames that people realize exactly how fiery it is. And now that the fire's been lit, Harry isn't all that willing to let it be smothered again, in fact he's all for letting it burn.**

 **Requirements: Fire Elemental Harry.**

 **Begins any time after Harry discovers magic.**

 **Harry's powers are unlocked during/after one of his canon adventures.**

 **Either Ron or Hermione must initially react badly to Harry's power. (Whether or not they change their mind is up to the author).**

 **Elementals are rare, and thus it causes a stir when it is revealed.**

 **Harry cannot have a 'true' mentor, he is self-trained in his powers.**

 **Morality: Any.** **Dark/Evil**

 **Pairing: Any.** **Harry/Fleur**

 **Forbidden: Naive/Canon Harry.**

 **Harry surrendering his control over fire.**

 **Godlike Harry.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own any of this, if I did I'd live a lot better than I do and I probably wouldn't be writing this.**

 **Reviews are welcome but flames will be deleted before fully read.**

Chapter 1

Harry laughed as the twins eagerly counted their winnings from Bagman for what had to be the hundredth time since they got back from the Quidditch Cup. He was happy for them and what that money meant for them, the twins having told Harry what they wanted to do with it right after they made the bet with Bagman. Harry looked from the ecstatic twins over to the rest of the group, Mr. Weasley having a discussion with Charlie about cobbing, Ron trying to explain quidditch to Hermione (again) and Ginny snoozing in an armchair in the corner. He was content, no scratch that, he was beyond happy that he had such good friends and that he could be a part of this instead of slaving away at Privet Drive for his so called 'family', well that is until he heard a noise that was definitely not happiness come from the twins.

"Where the bloody hell did our gold go!"

Conversations stopped around the tent as everyone turned to look at the now furious twins. "What do you mean, where did your gold go, Fred?" asked Mr. Weasley.

"I mean that our gold from Bagman disappeared-"said George

-and we want to know where the bloody hell it went!" finished Fred angrily

"Well there's only one thing to do." jumped in Harry to the twins while everyone else started talking at once.

"What's that oh Son of Prongs?"

"The only thing to do is to find Bagman and get the real money and maybe a little extra for your pain and suffering" said Harry with a smile

"You know Harry, you're the only sensible one in this tent right now" said George as a slightly malicious smirk spread over his and Fred's faces "alright, let's go"

"What do you mean 'lets'" asked a confused Harry.

"Well the way we see it Harrykins-" spoke Fred

"Since it was your idea it's only fair-"

"That you get to come and witness-"

"The visitation of our righteous fury upon Bagman" finished George.

Harry looked around, all the rest of the group seemed to have dissolved into arguments about what happened and what to do about it, and to Harry that just seemed like the most boring thing in the world to be doing right now. He wanted to do things, not sit around and talk about doing things. "Sure, let's go" he said while smiling broadly. This twin's answer was to smile and to slowly start inching their way to the entrance to the tent. Harry followed and since all of the rest of the group were engrossed in their increasingly loud argument they were able to leave without any notice.

Once they excited the tent the full force of the noise of the still going party of the Irish supporters hit the small team. Reveling in the noise and excitement Harry and the twins looked at each other, smiled, and then ran off asking any passersby if they had seen Bagman. For the first little bit they had no such luck, but as they started moving further and further into the tents they began to meet one group that had seen him and they told the trio where they had seen him go. And that's how the search progressed, finding someone who had seen him and then going in the direction they said until they found someone else who had seen him. After who knows how long they came across someone who knew the tent Bagman was in and the trio ran until they found it.

Bagman's tent didn't really look like much on the outside but that meant nothing for wizard's tents. So the trio walked up and considered who would be the first to go in. They settled on Harry considering Bagman seemed to like him so much. He walked in without a thought and came upon Bagman and his friends partying it up. Bagman looked over at the entrance "Harry my boy" shouted Bagman with a smile "so good to see you." he staggered over to Harry to vigorously shake Harry's hand.

"Hello again Mr. Bagman, I do hope that I'm not intruding." said Harry with a smile "we have an audience, even better" thought Harry.

"Not even in the slightest Harry" slurred Bagman "would you like something to drink Harry? After all you came so far just to be here." slurred Bagman"

"Would it be alright if I my friends came in sir? I wouldn't want to leave them by themselves."

"Of course, of course! Bring them in, the more the merrier!" shouted Bagman

Harry stuck his head out the tent flap "Alright guys come on in." he said with a smile on his face

The twins went through the flap and when Bagman saw who it was Harry brought with him he went white in the face. Harry's smile turned slightly malicious "serves him right" thought Harry, he hated it when people messed with the few people he cared about.

"So Bagman, cheated anyone else tonight?" said Fred with a cheery smile on his face.

"I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about boys." spluttered Bagman as the conversations in the tent died down and the occupants looked towards the new arrivals.

"So you have no idea about the gold that we won from you disappearing into thin air earlier do you?" asked George sweetly. Some of the other occupants of the room looking interested while others looking alarmed and going for their money bags. Bagman just sputtered ineffectually and started looking fearfully around.

"It's an interesting thing that leprechaun gold does, it disappears anywhere from a few minutes-" said Fred

"-To hours after it's made-" said George.

"-Although you wouldn't know anything about that would you Mr. Bagman" finished Fred.

"I gave you your winnings in real gold!" shouted Bagman trying to salvage the conversation.

"Then explain how they were in the middle of counting it and it all vanishes piece by piece" interjects Harry bringing himself into the argument. At this point the people who had gone for their money bags come back and inserting their complaints about missing money to Bagman as well.

"It'd be a shame" Harry said to the whole group of angry men "if we all went and found some reporter to write a story for us about how Bagman cheated you" Harry hated his fame with a passion but he knew how much influence he had if he really wanted it "I'd even verify the twins claim myself" at that what little color Bagman had left drained out and his defiance deflated. After Bagman writing some very hefty checks and apologizing to all of them, the twins and Harry said a merry goodbye to Bagman and some still rather angry looking men and set off back towards the tent. About halfway back they began to hear screams, and not the screams they had been hearing of parties but screams of pure terror and running feet. Harry pushed through the crowds and began to see the fires and smell the smoke. When he eventually stopped he looked around and noticed that he had been separated from the twins, in fact there wasn't that many people around, just burning tents and smoke.

"And what do we have here?" a voice shouted from Harry's left. He whirled around and standing there was a man in a black cloak with a skull mask and his wand trailing a thin length of fire. "Well well, if it isn't the Boy-Who-Lived, I'm trembling in fear over the defeater of the Dark Lord" the man sneered. He flicked his fire whip at the tents behind Harry cutting off his escape. "Let's see what kind of power you have that could have possibly beaten the Dark Lord". As he started to draw his wand the Death Eater flicked the whip burning a line across Harry's forearm. "Oops, I'm sorry were you trying to draw your wand" the Death Eater laughed sadistically. After he had been struck Harry felt a source of heat start to build in the center of his chest.

"That's odd" he thought "I was burned across my arm".

The Death Eater then struck Harry twice across each leg next causing Harry to fall to his knees. And with each successive burn across his body the heat in Harry's chest got hotter and hotter until Harry didn't know which hurt more, the burns from the Death Eaters spell or the heat burning him from the inside out.

"Pathetic Potter, seems like the only thing that kept you alive was your mudblood whore of a mother" spat the Death Eater as he struck Harry across the face with the fire whip. At this the heat inside Harry reached its crescendo and Harry pushed with his will hoping something, anything would happen to stop the burning sensations he was feeling. And with a whoosh and bang a huge wall of fire blasted out of his body instantly incinerating the Death Eater and anything else within a twenty foot radius. Harry gasped at the immediate cessation of the blistering heat in his body which was replaced with a glowing warmth radiating from his center to the ends of his fingertips. He looked around in confusion at the circle of ashes that surrounded his body. He touched the burns on his arms, legs and face wondering why they no longer hurt. And touching some of the ash that had gotten onto his face Harry dazedly rubbed it between his fingers wondering why in the world it felt so soft. Then a realization crashed upon him, he had just killed someone. His eyes rolled back into his head and he fainted from a combination of shock and magical exhaustion.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN:/ well not much to say except thanks for the reviews, favorites and follows and that i still don't own Harry Potter.**

Chapter 2

"Harry!" a voice shouted in the distance.

"No, let me sleep just a few more minutes" mumbled Harry as he tried to snuggle deeper into the softest thing he had ever laid on.

"Harry please get up!" shouted the same voice again, this time the voice was accompanied by someone shaking Harry vigorously.

"Fine, fine. I'm up, I'm up." He said while opening his eyes to the sight of a frightened looking Hermione with the rest of the Weasley family back aways hurrying to catch up to her.

"Oh Harry, we were all so worried! First you and the twins disappeared and then the Death Eaters attacked and it was horrible! I mean they were setting fire to tents and-"

"Hermione breathing is good for you" interjected Harry "and besides I know all about the Death Eaters, I was attacked by one. Do you think I make a habit of lying in piles of ash?"

Although with how comfortable it was I might have to make it one, he remarked to himself.

"You were attacked!?" squeaked Hermione

"Yes and I'm pretty much fine, just a few cuts and burns."

"How did you make the Death Eater run away?" inquired Mr. Weasley, finally having caught up to Hermione and Harry.

"I…I don't know" said Harry, not wanting to reveal what might be another odd ability he has, not after the fiasco of Second Year "all I remember is the Death Eater slashing me with a fire whip several times before everything got really hot and then I woke up to Hermione trying to shake my brains out."

"Hmmmmm, you must have magically exhausted yourself with some kind of accidental magic based on the stimulus…" Hermione trailed off into thoughts about what Harry could've possibly done to make himself pass out.

"Well whatever happened" said Mr. Weasley "I think we should all head back to the Burrow because I'd feel safer if you all were behind something sturdier than canvas tent walls"

The rest of the group chorused their agreement. After that Harry picked himself up and discreetly put a handful of ash into his pocket. The group then meandered through the remains of this portion of the camp to the portkey enclosure. When they arrived they found it a scene of utter chaos as almost all the families tried to get home. went and talked to Basil about getting a portkey, they seemed to come to an agreement after a few minutes and they were led over to a glass bottle which took them back to Stoatshead Hill. The only unfortunate part was that it was dark in the forest and they couldn't use magic because they were so close to the muggle village of Ottery St. Catchpole. So the group of tired witches and wizards found their way back to the Burrow just as the sun was coming up. Mr. Weasley sent Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ron up to bed and went into the sitting room with Bill and Charlie.

When Harry, Ron and the twins got to their room they changed and got ready for bed. Ron barely got to his bed before he passed out but the twins turned to Harry and seemed to want to talk. Harry nodded his head in acceptance and they came over to his bunk.

"So Harry did you not actually remember how you drove off that Death Eater-"

"Or did you just not want to tell anyone."

"Well I…" started Harry, but remembering how good of friends the twins had been since he'd met them, he changed his mind about lying to them "you guys can keep a secret right?"

The twins just gave him a look that said "really?"

"I just wanted to be sure," Harry said "alright, so I didn't drive him off. He might have kinda died."

"WHAT, HOW?" the twins said in unison. Ron snorted in his sleep and turned over on the bed causing the group on the other side of the room to jump a bit.

"Well" Harry said turning back to the twins "the Death eater used some kind of fire whip spell and cut me to stop me from drawing my wand and then cut me several other times and while he was doing this it felt like some kind of ball of heat was inside me and it kept getting hotter and hotter until it exploded out of me and I guess he kinda just got vaporized."

"Harry, that is quite possibly-" started Fred.

"The most wicked thing-"

"We have ever heard." The twins finished in unison.

"Really?"

"That was some impressive accidental magic" said George

"No wonder you passed out after" said Fred "it must've used a huge amount of your magical reserves"

"Yea, I guess so" said Harry, still not feeling comfortable explaining about the ash or the warmth that now permeated his entire being. The twins and Harry chatted a little bit more but they soon begged tiredness, went over to their beds and went to sleep. Harry, now the sole one awake, contemplated the incident and the repercussions.

"That couldn't have been just accidental magic" Harry thought to himself as he pulled some of the ash out of his pocket and rubbed it between his fingers "it was to large to be just that…maybe if I" he concentrated on pooling some warmth in his body into the palm of his cupped hands. He couldn't seem to get too much of it to condense, not like it was during the Death Eater attack, but he figured he didn't need something that big. After a few minutes and a large amount of willpower he got as much as he could seem to get into his palm…and it sat there. No fire, no explosion, no anything, just a pool of warmth in his hand.

"Why won't it start!" Harry snarled to himself. And with that, Harry felt a tingle go down his arm to his palm and a smile fire lit. He broke out in a large smile "so it wasn't just a one time thing" he cheered and the fire seemed to share his happiness and flicker and dance because of it.

Hmmm, so it seems that emotions seem to effect it he concluded to himself. Harry sat and watched the little fire for a few more minutes until he heard a whisper. Startled, he looked around, it didn't look like the twins or Ron was awake and he could still hear Mr. Weasley talking to Bill and Charlie. He turned back to his little fire, this time the whisper was barely audible.

"Buuuuuuuurrrrrrnnnnnnnnn"

What? Harry thought and then looked down at the fire in his hand Could it be coming from this somehow? He leaned closer to the small little fire.

"Buuuuuuuurrrrrrnnnnnnnnn"

Fucking Hell Harry thought to himself I already hear voices from goddamn snakes and now fire! What the hell is wrong with me!

Harry clenched his hand and put out the fire and then opened his hand and stared at it. Why do these things always happen to me? Since no answer was forthcoming Harry just decided to sleep on it and hopefully he'd think of something later.

Harry couldn't think of anything for the next few days and fell into a routine of helping around the house in the morning and playing quidditch with the family in the afternoon. And every night he'd summon up his little fire and the more he did it, the easier it got and the louder the fire spoke to him.

A couple days before they left for Hogwarts Mrs. Weasley was going to do some last minute shopping in Diagon Alley and Harry really needed to go with her.

"Mrs. Weasley?"

"Yes Harry dear?"

"Would It be alright if I went with you Diagon Alley?"

"Why would need to go to the Alley dear? If you need something i can get it for you."

"Well the thing is I can't find my wand anywhere."

"Oh dear, are you sure that you checked everywhere?"

"Yes ma'am and I even had Mr. Weasley try to summon it for me."

"Well i guess there's no helping it then" Mrs. Weasley seemed slightly disappointed but Harry brushed it off as that he couldn't find his wand.

"You haven't ever Side-Along Apparated have you dear"

"Not once"

"Well it will be slightly uncomfortable"

They walked out of the garden and down to the edge of the fence.

"Grab my arm Harry dear," and Harry did so and felt the sensation of squeezed through a small tube and then they appeared in front of the brick wall in Diagon Alley.

"That was….an interesting experience," said Harry as he tried to hold back his rising gorge.

"It takes a bit to get used to" grimaced Mrs. Weasley seeming to remember her first experience with Apparition "did you need to go to your vault my dear?"

"Yea, I'll need money for my new wand."

"Alright dear, here's your key. I just need to do some quick shopping and I'll catch up with you."

"Thanks Mrs. Weasley" said Harry as he ran off towards Gringotts. As Harry ran up the steps he nodded to the fully armored goblins outside the bank and went up to the first open teller. He was a rather normal looking Goblin with a nameplate that said Goldenclaw.

"What is your business today" said Goldenclaw

"I need to make a withdrawal from my vault if you would be so kind"

"Key please"

Harry handed over his key and Goldenclaw set it into a box and closed the lid. A brief golden light shone from under the lid and then the goblin opened it and pulled out his key along with a piece of parchment.

"Mr. Potter are you here alone today?"

"Well Mrs. Weasley is out shopping but other than that yes"

"In that case the Potter account manager has asked to speak to you about some matters"

"The Potters had an account manager?"

"Of course all the old families do"

"Well I guess I would be able to meet with them"

"Excellent, follow me then." Goldenclaw put a sign out that said his line was closed and took Harry down a different side hall then the one to the mine carts to people's vaults. He led them down a series of twisting hallways and office doors with various titles and names on them until they reached a door that had a "Potter Account Manager: Ripsnort" on it. Goldenclaw knocked on the door and a voice answered in a guttural, rumbling language that Harry assumed was Gobbeldegook. Goldenclaw opened the door and allowed Harry to go in and shut it behind him.

"Ahhh" said the Goblin sitting at the desk "young Mr. Potter, I have been waiting to see you for several years now. My name is Ripsnort and I am the Potter Account manager."

"If it would be alright, could you call me Harry instead of Mr. Potter?"

"I guess I could call you by your given name if that would make you more comfortable."

"Thanks" Harry flashed a smile "so what did you want to see me about then?"

"Well this meeting should have happened when you turned 11 but for some reason all of our correspondence with you was sent back. In any case this is just a simple overview of your finances that are accessible to you until you reach the age of majority or are emancipated."

"Alright then sounds interesting" Harry said.

"Quite" Ripsnort said with a smile, or as much as a goblin's smile could look to anyone besides another goblin. "The only thing you are able to take money from is your trust vault which holds 10000 galleons and refills every year on your birthday. Your mother also has allowed you to take 2 books at a time from the Potter family vault if you so choose."

"I have a family vault?"

"Well of course, all the old pureblood families do."

"The Potters were purebloods?"

"Not a religiously as some, they mixed frequently with muggleborns and squibs and even the occasional veela and muggle."

"Huh" Harry slumped in his chair as he thought about the things that had been revealed to him and then sat bolt up in his chair. "Considering how traditional the Wizarding World is do I have any of those marriage contract things?"

"No, of course not. The Potters would never force any of their children into a marriage. They weren't that kind of family."

"Well that's a relief"

"The next piece of business we have today is some rather odd withdrawals, do you have all of your keys?"

"Um, is it only the one?"

"No, there should be two of them."

"In that case no."

"Well that's easily taken care of" Ripsnort said as he pulled out a box covered in runes and placed a dagger on top of it "All we will need is a bit of your blood and it will recall the second key, just a drop with suffice. And we will look into who has been making withdrawals and if they were legal or not."

Harry rather uneasily picked up the dagger and poked his index finger and then squeezed a drop onto the top of the box. The box glowed gold and and opened by itself.

"Excellent, and here is your second key" said Ripsnort as he pulled out another key that looked exactly the same as the one Harry had in his possession. "And out final piece of business" Ripsnort pulled out another box although this one had a gold and crimson crest on it with two griffins holding up a crown. "This is your heir ring and shows you as the eldest Potter in line to inherit the Potter fortune. With it you will be able to access your vaults by just showing the ring to the teller. Also the magic of the ring will only allow one with the blood of a Potter to wear and use it."

"So I don't even need these keys?" Harry said gesturing at the keys on the desk.

"Not unless you want someone else to be able to access your vaults."

"What do most people do with the keys?" Harry asked as he put on the ring.

"Most will usually leave them in their vaults unless needed."

"Alright then, that sounds reasonable. Is there anything else that you need to show me or is that it?"

"That should be it, I'll have Goldclaw take you down to your vaults now."

"Thank you Master Ripsnort"

"It was all my pleasure Harry" he said with a smile.

The door was then opened by Goldclaw and Harry gave his goodbyes to Ripsnort and then Goldclaw lead him to the carts and took them down to Harry's trust vault. When they reached it Harry inquired about how he would open it with his Heir ring and was told that all he had to do was lay his hand on the vault door. So Harry approached the door and laid his hand on it. Harry felt a slight pull and then an audible click was heard and the door opened.

"Is there any way I can get more money than what I can just carry?"

"There are these blood bound bags and wallets that are connected to your vault. They are 50 galleons apiece"

Harry counted out enough money for one of each and was instructed to place a drop of blood on each of them to bind them to him. Harry did so and then was shown that the family vault connected to his trust vault. Harry went in and looked around but didn't pay too much attention because he couldn't do anything with the stuff in this vault for awhile, he left the keys on a table somewhere close to the entrance to his trust vault.

He found his way over to the book shelves and looked through none of the books really catching his interest until he found two books right next to each other named Fire Magic: The Beginners Guide and Smoke and Ash a Treatise on Fire Elementals. After that he left his vaults and took the roller coaster ride back up to the bank and found Mrs. Weasley waiting for him.

"Harry! What took you so long?"

"Oh I had to meet with the Potter account manager"

"Oh, what did he have to say dear?"

"Not much, it just seemed to be a meet the next heir thing. And I got my heir ring!" Harry said with a smile and showed her the ring.

"Thats nice dear, do you still need your key or do you want me to hang on to it for you?"

"I don't need it at all anymore, I can just use my heir ring and it can only be used by me and I assume from what my account manager said that the magic of the ring wouldn't like anyone other than me."

"Well thats…nice" said with a small smile.

"Yea! Let's go get my wand"

They walked down the Alley to Ollivander's and entered the shop.

"Well if it isn't the interesting Mr. Potter." Ollivander said as he appeared from the aisles of wands. "To what do I owe the pleasure"

"I haven't seen my wand since the Quidditch Cup" Harry said sadly "I think it might have been stolen"

"Disgraceful!" shouted a furious Ollivander "to think that a wizard would have the nerve to steal another wizard's wand, one of the most sacred things to a wizard. Well, we'll just have to find you another one."

Ollivander went into the aisles "since the last time you got an unusual combination I'll just go right into my odder wands right away."

They went through Ollivander's odder wand combinations for several minutes before Ollivander decided to try something even odder.

"Every now and then there is a wizard that requires a wand with 2 cores and a wood picked from a very interesting circumstance. Come with me . You can stay here " He said as she made a move to follow.

Ollivander's back room seemed different than the front room, for instance the wands sat on pillows instead of in boxes and the shelves only lined the walls instead of rows standing in the open. In the center of the room sat a plinth with a runic circle drawn on it.

"So I have a different way of showing these specific wands. All you need to do is cut your palm and place it in the center of the runes there and the wands will access your worth and if one chooses you, you will see it glow red." Ollivander said as he handed Harry a silver etched dagger. Harry quickly cut his palm so he didn't have to think about it and placed it in the center of the runes on the plinth. Immediately he felt as if he was being watched and measured by hundreds of people, each with their own bias. After several minutes of waiting, Ollivander seeming to get more and more agitated as the minutes went by, Harry noticed a wand start to glow out of the corner of his eye and he pointed it out to Ollivander.

"Ahhh yes, 11 1/2 inches with wood from a blackthorn tree that survived a forest fire with a basilisk venom and dragon heartstring core." Ollivander said looking relieved at finally found a wand for Harry "this wand will will serve you well through the hardships of your life and is well suited to most magics." He then ushered Harry out of the backroom and both Harry and out of the shop with a quiet "Good day".

then hustled them back to the barrier and with a sickening lurch Apparated them back to the Burrow. She then took her things that she bought into the house and left Harry to his own devices, which included doing his summer homework that he had put off until now and playing quidditch with the Weasley's.

When the day to return to Hogwarts came the Weasley household was full of activity as all the people who hadn't packed furiously packed and got ready. Goodbyes were said to Bill, Charlie, Percy, and as they took the floo to Kings Cross because packing had taken longer than usual. Goodbyes were said again from everyone to as they got on the Express and found an empty compartment to wave from as the express started its journey to Hogwarts once again.


	3. Chapter 3

**An: / I own none of this and probably never will**

 _ **Thoughts**_

 **/flamespeak/**

Chapter 3

The ride on the Hogwarts Express was as soothing as Harry had come to expect, well except for last year but that was an extreme change from the norm. Harry joked with Ron and teased Hermione, he also ate snacks and candy from the trolley lady. In fact it was great, until halfway through the train ride when a knock was heard on the compartment door.

"Hello Potter." Malfoy drawled from the door.

"Get out you filthy snake!" shouted Ron with his mouth full of pumpkin pasties.

"I did not say 'hello filthy blood traitor' I said' hello Potter.'"

"What do you want Malfoy?" interjected Harry hoping to stop this from escalating too far.

"I'm just here to say hello to the person who finally took up Heirship of their house. In this case it's you Potter."

"Why are you being different?" asked Harry with a puzzled look on his face.

"It always behooves one Heir to be polite to another one. Especially one that you have not been on the best of terms with."

"So now that I have taken up the Heirship of my family, you're going to be polite."

"Of course, it's etiquette. Something that Weasley over there wouldn't know about if it hit him in the face."

"Um, alright then."

"Goodbye then Potter," Malfoy said with a nod towards Harry as he left the compartment.

Throughout the rest of the train ride various other heirs, purebloods and a couple half-bloods came and congratulated Harry on taking up his Heirship. Most seemed curious why he had not done so earlier but they did not ask openly. And as each person came and went Ron seemed to get more and more surly and Hermione more and more interested.

"Why didn't you tell us you'd taken up your Heirship Harry?" Ron asked grumpily.

"I didn't think it would be that important, I just thought the ring was a more secure way to get into my vault."

"Well I think it's wonderful that you're taking up your family's heritage Harry," Hermione said and then started going on about finding genealogy for Harry's family and things that other Potters had created and other things on that line of thought. Harry just laughed and went along with her knowing that would make her happy.

As they neared the end of the ride they got their robes on as well as some raincoats because of the downpour at the station and when the train stopped ran to the coaches. They ended up with Neville in their coach who also congratulated Harry on taking up his Heirship. After that the four of them made pleasant conversation all the way up to the castle.

When the carriages reached the doors to the castle they rushed for them and the warm dryness of the castle's interior.

"Ugh I'm soaked," complained Ron

"At least we didn't have to ride the boats like the first years Ronald," huffed Hermione and as she said that a barrage of water balloons rained down on the already soaked students.

The students scattered trying to find refuge from the balloons. Harry dashed into an alcove and looked up to where they were coming from to see a cackling Peeves with several more balloons ready. Harry, using one of the abilities he figured out, started raising the fire's power (as he had begun to think of it) inside his body to dry himself off. As he did this, not that he noticed, but his eyes flickered between his usual emerald green and a fiery orange and a heat haze rose a few inches off his body.

When he stopped concentrating on drying himself he noticed that Professor McGonagall had driven off Peeves and was drying the rest of the students and that Ron and Hermione seemed to be looking for him. They finally noticed him walking back and as they ran over to him they had to hold each other up a few times from slipping on the wet floor.

"Blimey mate where'd you run off too?"

"Well, away from the water balloons like everyone else," snarked Harry back

Ron's ears turned a bit red and he just said "C'mon, the sooner we get in there the sooner we can eat," and started walking towards the Great Hall.

Harry just shrugged his shoulders and followed Ron into the Great Hall and immediately ephemeral whispers bombarded his ears. Thousands of them speaking so low that he couldn't make out what they were saying. Harry looked around trying to find the source and then had an idea and looked around at the candles that were floating throughout the Great Hall. The fires seemed….happy that they had been noticed by Harry it seemed. He just pushed the thoughts out of his mind and went to the Gryffindor's table. Harry eyed the staff table and saw who he assumed to be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.

He certainly looks like he's seen some fighting Harry thought to himself. The man looked like chunks of his face had been cut off and he seemed to have a fake eye.

"Blimey," Ron gasped, "that's Mad-Eye Moody one of the most feared Dark Wizard catchers, most everyone says that he's a bit mad nowadays though."

Harry just nodded and listened still slightly distracted by the candles.

The sorting went its usual way with the hat singing a song and then the children being sorted and Ron moaning more than Moaning Myrtle about how he was hungry. And after that was done Dumbledore stood up at the head table.

"Welcome to Hogwarts both old and new students," Dumbledore said as he surveyed the students with a twinkle in his eye "I only have one thing to say right now." he paused "Tuck in".

And with that the tables filled to capacity with all manner of foods and conversations filled the hall as friends reacquainted themselves with each other and ideas about what the school year would entail. Hermione went off on a tangent when Nearly Headless Nick let slip that Hogwarts had House Elves in the kitchens. And when the food was finished Dumbledore stood up and everyone quieted and waited for what he was going to say.

"As I said before welcome both old and new students to another year at Hogwarts. For the start of term announcements we have Mr. Filch has asked me to remind all of you of the list of forbidden items is posted on his office door. The Forbidden Forest is as its name suggests forbidden to any and all students and the village of Hogsmeade is only for those of 3rd year or higher." after this Dumbledore seemed to become more serious.

"It saddens me to tell you all that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not be taking place this year." at this declaration many protests were heard the loudest of which came from many of the Gryffindor's.

"Yes, yes," Dumbledore placated "I know that puts many of you in low spirits but my next announcement will get all of you chipper again." The protests quieted down at this but there was still an undertone of angry whispers.

"This year the Triwizard Tournament has been reinstated and it will be taking place at Hogwarts." at this the angry whispers still in the Great Hall turned into a swelling of excitement whispers.

"Due to safety reasons only those aged 17 years or older will be allowed to submit their names to the impartial judge." the whispers in the Great Hall again turned furious again and many loud complaints were heard throughout the hall.

"Do not worry, there will be several other competitions will be held for those who do not participate in the Triwizard Tournament. Chief among them a Dueling competition and an Inter-School Quidditch Tournament." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled at the last bit of the announcements.

"And now as it has been a rather long day I will bid you a fond goodnight"

As the students left there was numerous moans and groans about not being able to enter the tournament as well as others talking about the other events and the excitement of meeting other wizards from another country and school. Harry and company went and got the password from a prefect and then started heading up to the common room.

"Harry would you enter if you could" Hermione asked and Ron seemed interested in his answer as well

"No way, I've had enough excitement in my school years so far." Harry said with vehemence "I'm looking forward to not be the one risking my life."

"It'd still be cool to enter though wouldn't it" Ron blurted out

"Maybe, but I've had enough excitement for a lifetime already. I don't really need anymore."

With that they reached the Fat Lady and gave her the password and then headed up to their dorms. Ron seemed to just go from fully dressed and awake to in sleeping clothes and asleep in the span a few seconds but Harry stayed up and drew the curtains around his bed tightly to make sure that no light would escape around the corners. He then made his little handful of fire and with a strange impulse, he started talking to it. Telling it about his day and all the things he thought were interesting or odd that happened. The fire just blazed along and when Harry was done he put out his fire and went to sleep.

The next day when Professor was passing out their schedules Harry stopped Professor McGonagall when she handed him his schedule.

"Yes ?"

"Is it too late for me to change my classes?"

"Well since classes haven't formally started yet it wouldn't be too hard if you would really want to. I would assume you want to change Divination?" McGonagall said hopefully.

"Yes, but I would also like to change Care of Magical Creatures."

"What would you like to change them to Mr. Potter."

"Well I would like to change Divination to Ancient Runes, but I don't know what I would change Care to. I grew up in the muggle world so I don't need Muggle Studies and I wouldn't really like to take Arithmancy as I don't think I would have too much affinity for it."

"Well since you would be starting Ancient Runes a year late I could approve you for Study Hall."

"Hey could I take Study Hall in place of Care too?" Ron butted in.

"No, as you would just use the time to goof off and distract Mr. Potter" McGonagall said with a touch of irritation and then a small smirk crossed her face.

"Although if you wanted to take Ancient Runes with Mr. Potter I would allow it."

Ron just stuttered himself silent and McGonagall smirked again. After that she tapped Harry's schedule with her wand and it changed itself to reflect Harry's choices.

"I must say that I am happy that you've seemed to start taking your education more seriously."

Harry just smiled and thanked her and then walked off and waited for Ron and Hermione.

"Oh Harry I'm so excited that you've gotten rid of that washy Divination but why would you get rid of Care as well?"

"Well I figured that since I'm going to be taking Ancient Runes I might need extra time to learn everything I needed to and I was going to ask McGonagall about something for studying but she offered before I could ask."

"Oh, well that's smart of you Harry," Hermione beamed at him "I'll get you all of my notes for last year and I'll help you go over them and you'll be caught up in no time!"

At this Ron just moodily grunted and mumbled to himself. And Harry too distracted by Hermione's rapid speak noticed nothing.

In the morning the trio had Herbology together and then Hermione and Ron went to Care while Harry had his first Study Hall. He nervously entered the room and found it full of Ravenclaws and a few Slytherins. Most looked shocked to see a Gryffindor of all things enter and most were curious. Harry answered with entering Ancient Runes a year late and several Ravenclaws gave him some book titles to help him along the way. Armed with that knowledge he went and got a pass from Professor Vector, the supervisor of the day, and went and got the books they had suggested and a few others who looked helpful. After that he spent the rest of the period trying to piece together the beginning of understanding Ancient Runes.

Lunch was an interesting affair with Hermione pestering him about Study Hall and trying to give him advice about Runes along with Ron sending him looks he didn't quite understand.

After lunch he had his first Ancient Runes class and top that off it was a double period. When he entered the classroom he was again treated to shocked stares that there was a Gryffindor in the class. Harry took a seat at a table by himself since he didn't know any of the other students in the class. With that Professor Babbling came in from what Harry assumed was her office and started the class.

"Mr. Potter, since you have come to me a year late I am going to partner you with one of my other students until they say that you can hold your own here."

Harry apprehensively looked around at the other students wondering which one it would be.

"Ms. Greengrass if you would be so kind," a blonde girl stepped out of Babbling's office and stood next to the Professor. She was of an average height with icy blue eyes and cold demeanor.

"As I said she will be your tutor until such a time as you are able to keep up."

With that she came over to Harry's table and sat down next to him, pulling out her books and setting up her things.

"Um, hello I'm Harry," Harry weakly introduced himself.

"Hello Potter, I am Daphne Greengrass Heir to the Greengrass estate," her words could have frozen water with how cold it was. Her eyes narrowed as she looked him up and down.

"You're going to be a lot of work aren't you?"

Harry just weakly smiled and shrugged. With that she sniffed and turned to face the front as Professor Babbling started the lesson. It was full of symbols he didn't understand and languages he'd never heard of.

When it got to the practical portion Daphne turned back to him and in an emotionless voice started explaining the lesson and the things that he'd need to understand it. She also helped him through the practical portion which was using the runes learned to make them into a runic circle that wouldn't conflict with itself and would fit into a runic array. At the end of the lesson Harry had produced a runic circle that could hold magic but not much else.

"Potter."

"Yes Greengrass?" Harry had made the mistake of calling her Daphne earlier and had gotten his ear chewed off for it.

"These are my notes for last year, you may read through them as your time permits but if you lose them I will be most displeased," she said with a frown.

"Also since I am practically your tutor we are going to meet 2 nights a week in the library for me to reinforce what you've learned."

"I guess that's reasonable."

"It's non-negotiable is what it is."

Harry wisely backed off and they went their separate ways down to dinner. When Harry got to the entrance hall he was treated to the sight of Ron being pulled off a beaten looking Malfoy and screaming some incoherent words.

After Ron was dragged to the Hospital Wing for a calming draught Harry went into dinner and watched as Hermione speed ate and then vanished off to the library and then Ron came back in and ate as slow as he had ever eaten with a small smile on his face and then walk back to the common room whistling a merry tune.

When Harry finished his dinner he decided to go and find an empty classroom and try to practice his fire abilities some more. He eventually found one interestingly enough the third floor corridor. He laughed a bit at the events of his first year and then got down to business pushing as much of the heat in his body into his hand and then lighting it, smothering it and then starting again. He did that several times and then switched to pushing it as high as it would go inside his body and then letting it go back to normal and then raising it again. The only thing that frustrated Harry with his power is that he had seemed to level off at the current abilities he had. Nothing he was trying was working! He couldn't make the fire inside himself go any hotter and the largest ignited fire he had ever gotten was one about the size of his fist.

 _I just want more fire!_ Harry snarled to himself his frustration reaching the peak and starting to change over into anger and Harry's eyes flashed orange. And with that one of the desks in the classroom burst into flames. Startled Harry stepped back away from the burning desk and then the voice was the loudest he had ever heard.

"/Yesssssssss/" the voice exclaimed "/Burnnnn/" the voice seemed happy to burning something it sounded like to Harry.

Soon after that the desk finished burning and Harry was feeling strangely elated. He wanted to burn something else, something bigger! No, that wasn't right, he just wanted to learn how to use this power. So he tried focusing on the feeling that he had felt before the desk had caught fire but was unsuccessful, he couldn't just generate it out of nothing. A smirk crossed Harry's face as an idea came to him, maybe not out of nothing but how about his memories of the Dursley's. He thought of his treatment at their hands, of what his life was like because of them and when he felt anger he pushed the fire inside of him at the desk he was targeting. And the desk went up in flames, flames that seemed to be hotter and larger than the last and the fire rejoiced at once again burning. And with his eyes a burning orange Harry let loose a large smile, and to anyone but him it would have looked a touch mad.

After Harry set a few other things on fire, just to prove that he had a hang of it or so he told himself. Harry set off back to Gryffindor Tower and his bed, he was feeling tired after making all that fire and he wanted some sleep.


	4. Chapter 4 (unedited)

**AN:/ Well sorry it took so long, had a block with writing this chapter for some reason but whatever. Oh and just so you know I'm terrible at accents so I probably won't write any, well except for Maxine's name for Dumbledore, that just amuses me. Thanks for the reviews and on with the story**

 _ **thoughts**_

 **/flamespeak/**

Chapter 4

Over the next couple days the Fourth Years were treated to many comments on the new Defense teacher ranging from 'it was a cool class' to 'that teacher is insane' so rather predictably all of the Gryffindors were curious about how the man would actually measure up.

So when the first Defense class started with them waiting for Moody to show up in the class they felt rather let down. And so they waited, and waited...and waited. Eventually Harry started to feel uneasy and started to fidget and look around. The candles in the room seemed to emanate feelings of warning and amusement. So Harry looked around and eventually found a space on the wall where there was a faint distortion in the air.

" _Well that's a bit suspicious_ " Harry thought as he kept searching the room for other distortions.

After several more minutes past Moody appeared in the spot that the distortion was at and let off a loud bang from his wand badly startling all but a few of the students.

"Almost all of you are dead." said Moody in his gruff voice.

"And I say almost all of you only because of the few who either noticed me and didn't jump or just weren't startled." Moody paused.

"This year I will not teach you about Dark Creatures or weak protection spells. I will teach you how to survive should any of you come across any Dark Wizards in the future." as he said this his gaze lingered on several of the Slytherins in the class.

"The best way to live in such a situation is CONSTANT VIGILANCE" he barked the last part cause several students in the class to push back away from him.

"To always be aware of your surroundings and be ready for an attack at any time. These are what I will teach you this year." and then he smirked "along with a few curses."

"Now who can tell me any of the 3 curses that with one cast on another sentient being will give you a one way ticket to hell on earth, otherwise known as Azkaban"

Nobody seemed to want to be the first and then Malfoy arrogantly raised his hand.

"The Imperius curse sir."

"Ah yes, of course you would know that one Malfoy, what with your father having been put under it by the Dark Lord." the second part of his sentence practically dripped sarcasm.

After that Moody pulled out a jar of what looked like spiders and levitated one out. He then made it bigger so that everyone in the class could see.

"Now you can all see correct?" There were head nods and sounds of affirmative throughout the class.

"Imperio"

The spider seemed to shiver and then stilled. And then it stood up on two off it's legs and started doing cartwheels and then a tapdance. Many people in the class laughed and Moody seemed to grow angry.

"Think it's funny do you!" he snarled at the class.

"I could just as easily have this spider drown itself or throw itself in a fire. Or if it was a person, go home and strangle their family or take their money out of their vault and give it to me" with that he stopped the demonstration "Next curse."

Neville shakily raised his hand and said "The Cru-Cruciatus Curse s-sir."

"Ah yes." Moody looked sympathetically at him

He pointed at the spider with his wand "Crucio"

The spider writhed and contorted under the spell. Everyone came to the conclusion that if the spider could scream it would be doing so. Moody let up the spell quickly and the spider collapsed on the table. "And the last one?"

Everyone held their breathe and then Hermione raised her hand and whispered "The Killing Curse sir."

"Avada Kadavra" and in a flash of green light the spider curled up and was still. The classroom was as silent as a graveyard.

"These 3 curses are known as the Unforgivable Curses and and no known magical shield is able to block them. They are able to be blocked by a solid shield so summoning something in the way of them or conjuring something in front of them will be sufficient."

"These curses are not the worst ways magic can kill someone but they are still illegal. Can anyone tell me why?"

No one seemed to have a real answer, although a few of the Slytherins looked to be holding their tongues.

"They are illegal because you need to actually feel a raging desire to use that curse on someone." Said Moody gravely as he surveyed the class. "The desire to control, to cause unimaginable pain or just to kill and since these feelings are among the worst a human can feel they will begin to color that person's judgement and actions more and more until they don't want to do anything other than that."

"Now before you think that I am a dark wizard" at this Moody smirked "it is possible to force these curses with your magic but the results are far weaker than if you have the emotions to fuel it."

"I tell you these things because Dumbledore thinks that this information is vital to you, but now-" he paused and flicked his wand and then the desks floated up to the ceiling "-I begin the real part of this class." at this Moody's smirk went from amused to downright malicious. He flicked his wand again and a clunk was heard and then several objects flew into the room and set down in front of the class.

There were 5 of the objects and to the muggleborn they looked like tennis ball machines but where the balls were supposed to go was just a long black tube that ended in a point.

"Now, these machines here are just some dodge training. How it works is that you will insert your wand into this slot in the back-" he demonstrated "-and then this uses it to send stinging hexes at you at a rate and power set by me and you will do your best to dodge them."

"Sir" Malfoy drawled "why do we need to practice dodging when there are shields and counter-curses."

"Because shields fail and if you think you could memorize the counter to every harmful spell then you're deluded and dumb" Moody barked.

"Now, everyone get into a line!"

Moody then raised walls between each of the lines so that there was only about 7 to 8 feet between them for them to dodge in.

"Now let's get started." Moody seemed entirely too happy to be doing this.

It was hell. The average stinging hexes dodged sat at about 3 and the periodic shouts of "CONSTANT VIGILANCE" seemed to hinder the students more than help them.

When class ended there was a stampede for the door as everyone tried to escape the mad professor. But Harry hung back and when the class was empty approached Moody.

"Professor?"

"What is it Potter."

"Is there a way to be able to get to dodge better? Cause well, I think I can speak for all the students in saying that stinging hexes really hurt after awhile." said Harry as he rubbed a particularly sore spot.

"Well-" Moody grimaced as he sat down in a chair "-you could always take up running, and the best way to learn how to dodge better is to practice."

"It might be wise for you to take that up anyways Potter." for the first time both of Moody's eyes fixed on Harry.

"You can never have too much stamina, but you especially will never have a shortage of dark wizards after you so you could use all the advantages you could get."

"I'll give it some thought sir."

Moody just grunted and and Harry taking it as a dismissal left and headed for dinner. Ron and Hermione were waiting in the hallway for him.

"What did you want to talk to the Professor about Harry?" asked Hermione

"Yea mate, what could be more important than dinner?"

Harry answered as he started walking towards the great hall "Well I asked Moody if there was any way to get better at dodging, cause I don't know about you guys but I did not enjoy getting hit over and over again."

"Alright mate! How do we do it!"

"Well he said the best way is to take up running and practice."

Ron's excitement faded away.

"Oh, well that sounds like a lot of work."

"I was thinking about doing it, what with all of the crap I find myself in every year I figure it could only be beneficial."

"When would you find time to do it?" Hermione enquired curiously.

"I'd probably have to wake up earlier and do it then I guess" Harry replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

Ron just looked scandalized at having to wake up earlier than he absolutely had to. After that the trio entered the Great Hall and grabbed their seats for dinner. The main topic of discussion at dinner was the older years asking about their opinions on Moody's class and him in general.

After dinner Ron and Hermione headed to the common room and Harry headed to the library for his first meeting with Daphne. Once Harry got to the library he looked around and not finding Daphne in the immediate area headed deeper into the library for the more secluded tables. He eventually found her in a corner of the library that seemed to not be accessed much if the dust on the books was any indication.

"Potter." Daphne greeted coolly without looking up from her parchment.

"Greengrass."

"Have you been reading the notes I gave you."

"Yea, and Hermione gave me some of her notes as well."

"I hope you haven't mixed hers and mine up." at this she leveled a glare at Harry.

"No! I mean no, I make sure to keep hers and yours separate."

"Good. Now let's see how much you've managed to retain."

What followed was a gruelling rehash of the 3 main runic languages, those being Ancient Greek, Egyptian and Norse, and what kind of idiosyncrasies each language had. Like the norse runes being very rigid but could hold lots of power or the greek runes being more flexible but could hold less power. And after that came a basic lesson on how they were used to power runic circles and wards.

Daphne eventually stopped the session and allowed Harry to rest.

"You are doing acceptable allowing into account the fact that you just started this year."

"Thanks ever so much."

"In fact, if you continue at this rate you might be done with the third year curriculum by Christmas." at this Daphne allowed a smirk to cross her face.

"You might even catch up by the end of the year"

"You know if I didn't know better i'd think you were being nice to me."

"It's good you know better then isn't it. Here are some more notes for you to work with."

"I assume you'll do something horrible to me if i lose them."

"It would be worse now because I know that you can take care of them."

"And on that pleasant note goodnight Greengrass."

"Goodnight Potter."

Harry left the library and headed over to Gryffindor Tower hoping to just relax and maybe get some of his other homework done. When he entered the Common Room he found Ron and Hermione waiting for him with Hedwig.

"She won't give either of us the letter." Hermione told Harry

Harry walked over and held up his arm for Hedwig to get on and when she did so took the letter from her.

"It's from Padfoot from when I sent him that letter about my scar."

Dear Harry,

In response to your questions no curse scars are never reported to have hurt after being made but yours might be different considering its origins. I am back in the country and I am in a safe location (so don't try to get me to leave). I'll try to get in contact with you through other means but until then wait to send me another owl as they won't be able to find me at where I'm at.

Love,

Padfoot.

"He says he's back in the country but he's in a safe location and is gonna try and contact me some other way." said Harry.

"Oh I hope he's actually safe, I'd hate for him to get caught." worried Hermione.

"Well the only thing we can do is wait because it sounds like he won't be leaving."

The next few weeks Harry established his routine. He started getting up a couple hours earlier so that he could start running and after running he'd take a shower and get ready for the day. He'd go through his classes paying attention as much as he could, cram as much about Runes as he could into his head and try to survive Moody's crazy teaching style. He also had sessions with Daphne twice a week and she'd cement the knowledge of runes into his brain. And every night he could sneak off from his friends or when he couldn't sleep Harry would throw on his invisibility cloak and find an abandoned classroom to try push how much he could do with his fire.

The lack of progress in that area of his life was a constant irritation to him. He could feel all of the fire inside of him and knew that he could do so much more but every time he reached for it it slipped through his fingers. That isn't to say that there wasn't any progress at all it was just a very slow buildup.

Nothing truly interesting happened until a sign appeared in the Great Hall at breakfast announcing that the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang delegates would be arriving on Friday the 30th of October. Throughout the week not much else could be heard in conversations except speculations about what the people from the other magic schools would be like and how many people they would all be bringing. And when the time arrived everyone gathered and was lined up on the lawn to wait for them to arrive. As the students waited they speculated on how they would arrive until someone pointed up at the sky.

"Look it's a flying house!"

Unfortunately for the first year who said that it was in fact a giant carriage being pulled by flying horses. And when it touched down a door in the side side opened and guy in a light blue uniform jumped out and lowered some stairs and was followed by the biggest woman Harry had ever seen. The only person who compared in size was Hagrid.

" _Huh, maybe her and Hagrid are similar."_ Harry wondered as he watched her walk over and greet Dumbledore with a line of blue uniformed students following her.

"Dumbly-door how good to see you again" rumbled the woman in a deep voice.

"And you as well Madame Maxine, I hope you had no trouble on your way here?" Dumbledore took her hand and kissed it

"No trouble, no trouble. We will head into the castle as we are not dressed for this weather." Maxine waved her students into the castle.

And then another person shouted about the lake and everyone's attention was diverted to the lake as it boiling and frothed as an old ship thrust itself up from under the water and came to rest near the shore. Then a gangplank was lowered from the ship and a group of people in large fur coats started their way over to the castle.

When the group got to them a sleazy looking older man walked up to Dumbledore and shook his hand vigorously.

"Ahh Dumbledore, good to see you and old Hogwarts once again."

"Yes, good to see you as well Igor."

"Well I hope you don't mind but Viktor here has a slight head cold and I'd like to get him inside."

Looking closer Harry thought this Victor looked familiar and Ron started hyperventilating.

"Harry! Harry! Harry! Harry! That's Viktor Krum! Oh sweet Merlin and Morgana! Do you think I could get him to autograph something for me!" Ron seemed almost like he was about to rush Krum more than some of the girls.

"Ron I don't think acting like that will do you any good." Ron wasn't listening though, he seemed off in his own mind.

Harry just shrugged and followed the rest of the students heading inside for the Welcoming Feast. The Beauxbatons students had settled at the Ravenclaw table and Durmstrang seemed to be settling in with the Slytherins. Ron groused at the missed opportunity to buddy up to Krum and Harry just listened amused by Ron's slightly obsessive rants. At the Head Table Dumbledore stood up and raised his hands for silence.

"Well I must say welcome to our visitors and I hope that your stay will be to your satisfaction and I will divulge the information as to tournament particulars after dinner" and with a smile Dumbledore lowered his hands and sat down then the tables were filled with food.

Ron immediately went for his favorites but Harry looked around and noticed that there was many different dishes there than usual. Harry figured that they were dishes from the other schools home countries and decided to try a few. A few minutes later someone spoke from behind Harry.

"Are you done with the bouillabaisse?"

"Hmmm?" Harry turned around and when he saw the person who had asked a wave of heat washed over him. This heat seemed to curl around him and draw forth his own fire, tempting it with promises of freedom and to burn unchecked. His fire singing through his veins Harry was pulled into his fire and his eyes changed to the fiery orange of when he was manipulating it and the girl gasped. This gasp drew Harry back to the present and he groggily shook his head.

"Um, what was it that you wanted?"

"The bouillabaisse" the girl answered hesitantly.

Now that Harry wasn't drowning in the fire, although it was still burning through his veins in need to be free, he noticed this girl had platinum silver hair and a willowy figure.

"Yea, yea. Go ahead and take it"

He handed her the bowl and she left taking the aura of heat and passion with her. Harry's eyes changed back to normal but the fire still burned through his veins although not as bad as before.

"She's totally a veela mate." Ron said still staring at the girl.

"Don't be silly Ron, you're the only one who acted like that around her." Apparently Hermione hadn't noticed Harry's lapse.

Hermione and Ron started bickering and Harry just sat there thoughtfully.

" _I'll have to look up more about veela to see if there was anything that might explain what just happened_ " Harry thought to himself.

Once everyone had their fill of food, except Ron but he was always hungry, Dumbledore stood up again and everyone quieted down for whatever he was going to say. Dumbledore gestured with his hand and Filch came in from a side room with a pillar of jewel encrusted gold on a cart which Dumbledore levitated and set up in front of the students. He then tapped the top of the pillar with his wand and the gold seemed to melt until a large wooden cup was shown which then burst into blue flames.

"This is the Goblet of Fire, this will be what those hopefuls will submit their name to for a chance to be chosen as a Champion. Each of us judges will be adding a protection to prevent those under age 17 from entering the tournament." At this there were many groans and complaints but they died out quickly.

"You will have one day to submit your name then tomorrow night the Champions will be chosen. I would hope that those who are entering their name will think carefully before doing so as these challenges will not be for the faint of heart." Dumbledore surveyed all of them with a serious look

"And now, I bid you all a good night" Dumbledore finished with a smile and twinkle in his eye

As everyone headed back to their dorms, and for the foreign students back to their carriage and ship respectively, the question on everyone's mind was who was entering and who would be chosen.


	5. Chapter 5

**An:/ I have no idea what was up with that last post and all that format text. It's the government's fault…or the internets haha but anyways thanks for the reviews favorites and such and continue to read and review**

/Flamespeak/

 _Thoughts_

Chapter 5

Throughout the next day it was a very distracted student body that went to class. Several students chose to enter their name in full view of everyone during breakfast, lunch and dinner but there were rumors abounding that many more had tried to enter their names when no one was looking. The Weasley twins had a rather spectacular failure when one of the Headmaster's defenses forcibly ejected them and they somehow ended up with knee long white beards.

Throughout the day Harry would feel random waves of heat that no one else noticed. And with the heat came a feeling of being judged and evaluated.

Based on what Harry saw and felt during mealtimes it seemed to coincide with whenever someone put their name in the Goblet.

And so when dinner came everyone was an excited mess with people guessing and shouting everywhere. There were a couple new people at the Staff Table tonight, one of them being Bagman and the other being a stiff looking older man Harry vaguely remembered from the World Cup. Dinner past in a blur and soon enough Dumbledore stood up from the Staff Table and raised his hands for quiet.

"If you would all settle down for a moment it is time to select the Champions" Dumbledore said with a smile and a twinkle in his eye as he surveyed the gathered schools.

Dumbledore held out his hand and the fire changed from the bright blue it had been to a dark red and piece of smoking paper was spat out. At the same time a wave of heat washed over Harry, far more powerful than the others that Harry had felt during the rest of the day.

"And the Champion for Durmstrang is Viktor Krum."

From the Durmstrang contingent there was a loud stomping of boots and then silence. Then Krum went up to Dumbledore and was directed into a side chamber.

The fire flared red again and another piece of paper was ejected.

"The Champion for Beauxbatons is Fleur Delacour."

There was a smattering of polite applause from the Beauxbatons students but there was more than a few jealous or angry looks directed at her to out way it. Fleur was also directed to the side chamber.

And again the Goblet flared red and another piece of paper flew out.

"The Hogwarts Champion is Cedric Diggory"

And the Hufflepuff table exploded into applause and excitement. Some even jumped up and hugged Cedric while he sat there with a surprised look on his face. He eventually got up and made his way dazedly to the side chamber.

"Now that we have our Champ-" and then a pillar of angry red fire exploded from the Goblet. It reached to the ceiling and poured over it for several feet in each direction sparking as the enchantments on the ceiling tried to hold firm against the onslaught.

The heat that poured off the Goblet was staggering for everyone but especially so for Harry. He felt like he was being roasted alive for the first time since the incident at the World Cup. A haze descended over Harry's vision and the flames mesmerized him. His hand clenched down on the table. And then a voice spoke.

"/HARRY POTTER/" the voice had everyone in the Great Hall clutching their ears. Even though only Harry could understand it the volume of it was enough to shake the castle.

"/FINALLY ANOTHER OF YOUR KIND IS WITHIN MY GRASP./"

" _My kind? I wonder if he means a wizard or a person with my fire abilities"_ Harry thought to himself.

"/HMMMM, YOU SEEM TO HAVE BARELY ANY IDEA OF WHAT YOU ARE. FREE ME AND I WILL SHOW YOU./

"/LOOK FOR THE FROZEN FLAME SURROUNDED BY DARKNESS THAT IS THE KEY TO MY FREEDOM. THAT IS, IF YOU SURVIVE/" the voice trailed off with a malicious laugh.

And then the pillar of fire disappeared as quickly as it had come and in its place, fluttering down was a smoking piece of paper.

Harry painfully unclenched his hand from the table, not noticing the inch deep burns in the table in the shape of his fingers, deep in thought over what thing in the Goblet had said.

The next thing he knew he was being roughly shaken while someone was saying his name.

"What?" Harry said groggily.

Ron, being the one who was shaking him, just pointed angrily toward the front. Harry looked toward the Goblet and saw Dumbledore standing with a piece of paper in his hand.

"Harry could you come up here." Dumbledore's classic twinkle was not present for once.

Harry bewilderedly stood up and headed up to Dumbledore.

"And through there as well." Dumbledore pointed toward the side door the Champions had gone through.

"But why-" Dumbledore just shook his head. So Harry headed to the other room and was greeted by confused stares from the Champions.

"What is it?" Said Cedric after waiting for a minute.

"I don't know, I was just told to come in here after a huge pillar of fire shot out of the Goblet." Harry said with a shrug.

At that the door opened and a group of squabbling adults entered. One of them eagerly pushed through and shushed the rest and Harry recognized him as Bagman.

"Well certainly unexpected but the more the merrier yes yes!" Bagman seemed to be almost vibrating with happiness.

"Excuse me, but what do you mean 'the more the merrier.'" asked Fleur.

"I mean that by the young man here being the Fourth Champion!"

A shocked silence descended on the Champions broken only when the group of the adults started arguing again.

"HEY!" Yelled Harry.

The adults quieted again and looked towards Harry.

"What do you mean I'm a Champion!?"

"Your name came out of the Goblet Harry." Bagman said with a smile.

"How did my name come out when I never entered it!?"

"Of course you entered it! Why wouldn't you! Winning the tournament would be a great boon for anyone!" Fleur said huffily.

"Not for me." Harry gave her a dark glare. With the aftereffects of the Goblet still going through Harry and his frustrated state there was considerably more heat behind his glare than usual with his eyes showing flecks of their transformation.

In fact for Fleur it felt as if someone had sprayed lava in her face. And what with being resistant to fire that takes a lot of heat. So she wisely stepped down from her argument.

Harry turned back to the adults.

"Isn't there some way that I can get out of this" Harry asked with a note of pleading in his voice.

"The Goblet of Fire creates a magical contract with those that it chooses. You have to compete or break it which would either result in death or a very slight chance of loss of magic." The older man Harry now remembered as Barty Crouch said.

"So compete and die or don't compete and still die are my choices?" Harry asked still angry.

Crouch just nodded in confirmation.

"Wonderful. Alright I would like to officially note that I am an unwilling participant in this activity."

"Duly noted Mr. Potter, now Bagman tell them what they need to know." Said Crouch in an official tone.

"Alright boys and girls gather round gather round." Bagman said with an enthusiastic gesture.

"Now the first task will happen on November 24th and will be a test of your courage and daring in the face of the unknown and most likely highly dangerous. Points will be awarded based on how well you complete the challenge" Said Bagman in tone that left no doubt about how ecstatic he was about this.

"Now off with you." Bagman said with a wave toward the door.

Harry quickly left the room and headed up to a classroom on the third floor not stopping for any of the people who said his name.

When he got there he closed and locked the door with the knob melting slightly with how much heat he was generating.

The room was sparse, where most of the other rooms Harry had used had several desks or chairs this room only had a larger than average desk pushed against the wall at the other end of the room.

As Harry looked around at the room, the desk shook and rattled. Curious Harry walked over to the desk and as he got a few feet away one of the drawers in the desk shot open and black smoke poured out coalescing into the form of a dementor. Immediately ice cold despair filled the room stifling Harry's anger and frustration with terror. His body wouldn't react to his commands to grab his wand, all he could do was wait for the dementor/boggart to creep closer and closer.

" _The mighty Harry Potter brought down after cheating his way into the Tri-Wizard Tournament by a lowly boggart."_ Harry thought bitterly " _oh how Snape is going to love this."_

At the mention of Snape memories rushed unbidden to the forefront of Harry's mind bolstered by the fake dementor's aura. Snape mocking Harry, Snape mocking his parents, Snape's blatant favoritism, the list went on and on and with each memory Harry got angrier and angrier.

Fire bloomed in Harry's mind, burning through the memories in an instant and offering a solution in the form of the voices that Harry had started to find so very comforting.

"/Burn it, burn it all/" they said.

Harry opened eyes that he didn't remember closing and raised a hand, the boggart was so close he could almost touch it.

" _Burn it all huh, sounds like it could be fun._ " Harry smiled as he thought.

Harry closed the distance between his hand and the boggart and pushed his fire out. For once it didn't resist his attempts to control it, in fact it seemed almost joyous pouring out of his hand.

There was no more boggart, in fact Harry couldn't even see the wall. There was only the fire, the glorious fire.

Harry spun in a circle covering the room in his glorious, beautifully dancing fire. The screams of the boggart dying were of no consequence and ended quickly. The only thing Harry felt was warmth, and a joy bordering on ecstasy.

" _If this is how using my fire feels all the time I could get used to this."_ Harry thought with a smile tinged with something darker.

-LineBreak-

Elsewhere in the castle Fleur looked up from her conversation with some Ravenclaw that had asked if she'd mind answering some of their questions about veela then had proceeded to stare dazedly at her until she snapped him out of it.

" _Someone is putting out a huge amount of fire magic._ " Fleur looked around trying to figure out where it was coming from " _It feels different from veela fire though. Maybe it is that boy Harry Potter? He seemed to have some fire in his magic but that might have just been because he was angry."_

Fleur finished her conversation with the Ravenclaw and went in search of the source of the magic she had felt but as she got to the stairs her sense of it started to fade and it was soon gone. That didn't deter Fleur at all though, she was curious and it wasn't like she had anything else to do. So she searched floor by floor until she came to the third floor and found that it was overflowing with echoes of fire magic.

" _So I think I've found their practice area_ " she thought as she started checking rooms finding burned remains in several of the rooms. One of the rooms was particularly so with the walls, floor and ceiling covered in soot.

Fleur was determined to find out who this person was but having no other leads besides these rooms she decided to leave for now and check up here whenever she had the time to see if she could catch them.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN:/ Sorry I been awhile updating, I just couldn't get this chapter to come out till right there at the end, but oh well. A warning some of you might hate me for what I'm gonna do in this chapter. Anyways as always R &R.**

 **Edit: reposted with corrections and a small addition that got cut from the other document for some reason**

 **/Flamespeak/**

 _ **Thoughts**_

Chapter 6

Harry headed back to Gryffindor Tower under the Cloak still riding the high of using so much of his fire. It was an uneventful journey, most people were in their Common Rooms most likely talking about the "Fourth Champion".

When he reached Gryffindor Tower Harry took off the Cloak and gave the Fat Lady the password. When she saw him she gave a little huff but swung open anyways. What he was greeted with in the Common Room was silence and stares.

The awkward silence stayed for a few moments and then everyone turned back to hushed conversations although everyone seemed to be more focused on what he would do.

Looking around Harry saw Ron and Hermione off to the side and headed over to them. As he came up to them they stopped talking and the looks they gave him were a study in contrasts. Ron's was full of anger and jealousy and Hermione's was worried and just a bit sad.

"What's with the looks?" Harry asked wearily

"Why didn't you tell us that you knew how to get your name in the Goblet!" Ron blurted out.

"Cause I didn't do it" Harry growled.

"Then why did your name come out then huh" Ron scoffed.

"If I knew don't you think I would tell you?!"

"I used to think that you would but obviously you won't!"

"If you really think that why don't you just leave since I'm such a terrible friend!" snarled Harry, a slight burn starting to run through his veins.

The fires around the room whispered of how the rest of the school thought the same, that they thought he was a cheat and a liar. That no one believed him.

"Harry! Just because you're angry doesn't mean you can take it out on us!" an agitated Hermione finally interjected into the argument.

"What, are you gonna take his side like the school already has!" the burn in Harry's veins turning into an inferno in a second.

"Well I…" sputtered Hermione.

The fires whispered that her indecision betrayed her thoughts.

"Yea Harry even Hermione thinks that we're right!" Ron barges in again.

"Fine! If you all think that I'm such a liar all of you can GO FUCK YOURSELVES!" Harry finished his sentence at a yell. The fire in his veins burning away any reservations he might have had over saying something like that, a haze of heat beginning to form around the edges of his body.

In the silence caused by his outburst Harry walked back over to the Fat Lady and left, slamming the portrait on his way out.

—

The next morning during breakfast everyone seemed to be looking for Harry but he didn't show. Hermione in particular seemed to be especially watchful. And neither did he show up for classes or anything that day or for the rest of the week for that matter.

When Harry showed his face at breakfast the week after he was the subject of many curious looks and conversations. He appeared no different from when he had disappeared, except that his hair was long enough to cover his eyes, but there was an air of something many couldn't quite place around him. He sat down and ate and then left, not saying a word to anyone.

Daphne cornered him in the hallway after making a quiet exit from the Slytherin table. She grabbed him by the arm and dragged him into an empty classroom and threw a silencing spell and the door.

"Is there any reason you have not deigned to grace me with your presence during our sessions?" Daphne asked in a sweet voice that promised pain.

"I was busy." Harry's voice had a rough, raspy quality that made it sound like he'd started smoking.

"Well did you at least manage to fit practicing Runes into your 'busy' schedule?" if sarcasm was a liquid Daphne would've drowned everyone in the school.

"I did a bit."

"If you're not going to take this seriously you might as well go back to Divination." she spat at Harry.

Harry looked at her through the hair that covered his eyes and Daphne caught a flash of burning orange through his hair, then it shifted and showed his normal green eyes.

"Must have been a trick of the light" thought Daphne though not really wanting to contemplate if it hadn't been.

"Fine. I will come to our sessions so you don't squander your valuable time."

"That's all I wanted, and you better not have lost my notes." Daphne said with a wary smile, still unnerved by the glimpse she had caught.

She left after taking off her silencing spell leaving Harry alone in the empty classroom.

Harry watched her go and when he was sure she had left he held his hand up to his face, a small flame visible in his hand.

"/Do you think she is worth our time?/"

"/Possibly/She seems too cold/We should thaw her out./" the words were spoken at the same time and would have confused most but to Harry they were as clear as day.

Harry laughed at the fire's words and let it burn out. The past week had seen leaps and bounds in his ability with his fire. Harry guessed it was because before he was trying to force it and now he worked with the fire, it was a partnership of sorts. An odd one, but still a partnership.

Harry left the classroom and went back to his latest room on the 7th floor. He hadn't stayed in the same one past a day and sometimes switching rooms before a day was over. He had no desire to see any of the other people in the castle, their questions and thoughts were secondary to his work with the fire. The books on fire magic from his vault were interesting, but it didn't feel the same. Some of the spells got close like the Fire Whip spell and the Bone Burning spell but none had the sheer rush of channeling the fire through his body.

It was a good thing that the all the fires in the castle seemed connected because otherwise he never would have learned the things about the Tournament that he had. Or several interesting facts about the Champions when the fire was feeling chatty.

For example Fleur seemed the most popular of the Beauxbatons but in fact it seemed that she was universally hated or that she had a penchant for throwing fire when irritated. Harry only really cared about the throwing of fire wondering if she was like him. Krum had some dirty secrets but Harry really didn't care enough to remember them as they had nothing to do with fire.

Harry conjured a handful of fire and threw it into the center of the room where it burned without fuel. He settled down in front of the fire and stared into it. This was just part of his exercises of trying to look through the fire into other rooms with fire. It seemed plausible enough considering the fire could tell him what was going on wherever else it was.

Hours passed with nothing gained except a headache from staring so intensely at one spot for so long. Harry stood up exasperated and indulged in throwing some fire around to relieve some of the tension from sitting for so long. The fires seemed amused at him and he just stuck his tongue out at them.

"/You do it if it's so easy/" Harry challenged the fire.

Immediately each of the flickering fires in front of Harry started showing flickering images inside them of hallways and classrooms all over the school.

Harry just sighed.

—

Harry established a routine the next couple weeks before the First Task. He would show up at meals with the rest of the school where he would be the subject of whispers and stares but no one would approach him, and then he would head up to whatever abandoned room he was using at the moment and if he had a session with Daphne he would go to it. The only difference about those sessions was that Daphne seemed to have gained a sadistic tendency to shoot him with stinging hexes if he got something incorrect. She occasionally irritated him enough that he contemplated burning some of her notes but that he decided that would not end well.

During this time Harry began to notice a presence at the edge of his senses. It was a barely noticeable sense of another fire, but it had a different presence than either regular fire or even the thing in the Goblet of Fire. It had a feral, wild kind of feeling throughout it. The presence persisted on the edge of Harry's senses and eventually grew irritating enough that Harry went in search of it. He searched the castle from top to bottom for it and found nothing. So Harry expanded his search area to the grounds and it seemed that the closer he got to the Forbidden Forest the stronger the presence got.

The Forbidden Forest had an odd feeling to it, as if it was trying to stifle everything inside it into silence. Everything seemed muffled and still, branches hardly moved, no bugs buzzing around, no animals wandering through the brush. Just oppressive amounts of silence in every direction. It was too quiet and still, Harry hated it.

A buzzing noise started the closer Harry got to the presence, and in the otherwise silent forest it was deafening. The buzzing got louder and louder the farther Harry got until it got to the point that it was painful and then as if a line had been crossed it stopped. Harry looked around the area curious. What Harry saw wasn't anything special, just more trees and brush and then a roar shattered the silence. A bestial roar full of rage that challenged everything within its radius to a fight to the death the sound of it brimming with the feeling of fire.

Harry smiled, he'd found what was broadcasting the fire now just to find what exactly it is.

Harry continued forward and soon enough came to the edge of a clearing that was crawling with other wizards and had four covered cages in it. Each of the cages radiated some kind of fire but only one was throwing out waves and waves of it, the others seemed sluggish and listless. Another roar shot out and flames started licking around the edge of the covers on the far cage. The wizards started rushing towards the cage just as the covers on it went up in flames. And inside was the most terrible and amazing thing Harry had ever seen, a dragon!

It roared in triumph and shot a tongue of flame at least a hundred feet into the air. It was vicious and deadly looking, covered in deep black colored scales and riddled with spikes, its tail ended with three wicked curved spikes making it an even more deadly implement than it already was.

The wizards were shouting but Harry paid no attention to what they were saying, he was transfixed by not only the dragon in front of him but fire that it radiated. It was wild and free, unwilling to be tamed or even to bend to any other will than its own, it would rather die than be ruled. Harry felt the fire within him stir and rise up filling him with its heat. The dragon's head snapped over to where Harry was at and he felt its eyes drilling into him. Harry locked eyes with it and felt a presence sear into his mind with the force of a wildfire. Harry clutched at a nearby tree to keep himself from falling over, his eyes burning orange.

There was no words from the dragon just a look that burned through Harry to the core of fire inside of him. A sense of acknowledgment from the dragon to the fire and vice versa and then the dragon was gone from Harry's mind. Harry gasped for breath and pulled his fingers from charred holes in the tree. He turned and stumbled away and the dragon went back to rampaging inside its cage the wizards shooting jets of light at it in order to try to get it to calm down.

When Harry got back to the room he was using back in the castle he collapsed on the pile of clothes he had been using for his bed and let out a large sigh.

" _So that's what a dragon is like."_ Harry whispered to himself and the torches around the room flickered in agreement.

—

The rest of the time until the First Task was spent in preparation for what Harry assumed was the challenge, the dragons. So he tried to test the limits of his tolerance for fire, but that was a dead end because he had no working source of hotter fire except for his own and he already knew that wouldn't burn him. He worked on controlling fire hoping that he would be able to redirect the dragons away from him. He even worked on some magic in the hope that something he learned in these few days would be of help.

The day of the First Task dawned and Harry trudged down to breakfast his stomach roiling with nerves. This would not even be close to a walk in the park, in fact if he lived he'd be very lucky. He ate breakfast in silence uncaring of all the stares, sneers, and even whispered odds on his survival.

Dumbledore stood up at the Head Table.

"If the Champions would stand, it is time to head down to the arena for the First Task."

Harry stood and walked toward the Entrance Hall with the other Champions and Staff. He squared his shoulders and drew deep on the well of fire inside him to relax. It was time to see if a dragon's fire beat Harry's. A smile grew across Harry's face, with his eyes turning a burning orange a new thought came into his head.

" _This is gonna be fun!"_


End file.
